2010 summarized

I have not blogged in a while. I think it is mostly because I have had so much going on, that I did not know where to start. I finished another semester of school with all A's. I lost 25 pounds. Yippeeeee! I think the biggest changes we are starting has to do with jobs. Mike decided that he was done staying home with the kids. He stayed home with them for 10 months, and worked nights to help with finances. He has been very supportive of me and my career, and I thought if he wants to go back to work, I don't blame him. Staying home with kids is extremely hard! Mike is happy when he is working with his hands, and he found a job installing appliances with a hardware satore in town. He loves it, and he is much happier.

This year was crazy for me. I started selling insurance in March of this year. I had been working as the secretary at State Farm for 2 years, and when I had the oppurtunity to move up, I took it. I never knew I would love selling insurance, or for that matter, be good at it. After 1 month of it, I knew that this was the career for me. My brother was in the process of owning his own agnecy, and I started thinking that I might want to do it too. 2 months after I started selling, the manager of southern New Mexico State Farm asked me when I wanted to start the process of going into agnecy like my brother. It felt good that he was approaching me. They rarely approach people, or push people to go into agency, so for someone to notice my work,it made me feel really great.

However, the training process is 8 months long and will require me to be gone during the week. It would also mean that Mike and I would become business owners again. I would get to pick from any availible agencies from all over, but I think we would end up in Arizona. If we did decide to do this, we would have to make some sacrifices, but I think we could do it. It would be a great oppurtunity for our family. Agents get to travel all over the world, and the company pays for it. My kids would be able to see all parts of the world. I would have the time to go to every event they are involved in. We would have the finances to travelt o see our families whenever we wanted. Whatever we do, we are not going to start this adventure for at least another year. And the only way I would do it, would be if my kids came with me. So this is where we are...

Parade

The kids got to be in a parade with my parents. Scarletts friend Naomi was in town, so she got to come too. My kids did not want to take pictures, so I wnated to document how they look before and after the "cheesy" picture was taken.

Owens Birthday

Owen had a "Cars" party. He had such a fun day. He played with his friends, hit a pinata with a light saber, and he got tons of great toys! He was so happy to be a three year old.

Scarletts Birthday

She had a great 5th Birthday! We had both birthday parties at home this year, and they loved it. Mike is almost done with the tree house, so the kids had a great time playing outside.

I am not kidding!

I just told Scarlett to put something down and to go to her room, and she said to me, in a very irritated voice, "I was going to my room, GEEZ!" So I spanked her. Then she went to her room until I could come talk to her, the standard procedure. I walked into her room and she said, "Mom, I was thinking, I don't think that you realize that I know the difference between right and wrong." then SHE said, "I was like whoa (in a teenagers voice, complete with mounds of attitude)), she (me)does not even know that I was about to put it down and go to my room." How do you parent a child that at 5 thinks you have no idea what you are doing?

10-10-10

Owen will be turning 3 on Sunday! He has been talking about his "caa Paaty" (car party) for weeks! We went to pick out the cake the other night and when he saw the lightning mqueen and tow mater cake, he screamed out loud in the store. He is such a funny kid. He has the most amazing sense of humor. He is constantly asking me what words mean, and coming up with elaborate plans of how he will protect our family if bad guys or bears try to come to our house. He told me the other day that if a bear was trying to come in our house, he would take his light sabor and say, "mom, dad, move over, I will protect you!" He makes the best faces too. We love you Owen Michael! You have brought so much joy to our lives!

What the?!

I was just reading headlines on Fox News (the only news station I watch), and I saw that there are more toy recalls. This time toys are being recalled because some high chairs, and trikes can cause injuries to children. The potential injuries are that a child could fall on them and get scratched so bad the might need stitches. What will be next, should God recall all rocks on earth, because kids fall and have to have stitches all the time for falling on a rock. I hope everyone realizes that it only takes a few children choking on something or getting scratched by something to make the toy companies recall. I hope that when my kids start having kids, they will be able to play with more than just a pillow with no tag. This world is a crazy place!

FIVE!!!!

My baby turned 5 on Thursday. Every year that she gets older, I am more and more proud of her. She is one of the most gifted, smart, beautiful little girls I know. She is so loving, and kind to everyone she meets. She has an amazing sense of humor. She can sing, draw, and pretend like nobody's business. I constantly ask God how I got so lucky. What an amazing gift she is to me and everyone that loves her. I know she is going to such a joy to raise, and I am so thankful for her. Happy Birthday my perfect girl. I love you more than you can imagine!

some sayings around here!

1.Me:"Owen, if you pee in your pants, you know what will happen." Owen:"I don't have pants on!" Me: "Well you know what will happen if you pee in your underwear." Owen: "Yes mom, they will get wet."
2.Today in church it was announced that a pastor named Dennis was going to be speaking, and my friends daughter said, "Oh yay! Dennis the Menace is preaching!"
3. Me: "Owen, do not make messes in my house and then laugh about it!" Owen:"Mom, this is OUR house, you need to learn to share!"
4.Owen: "Mom, what does power mean?" Me: "if you are big and strong, you have power." (don't judge, I know it was not the best answer) Owen:"No mom, it means when you turn the lights of they have no power"
5. Owen has been telling everyone that they can "enjoin in his car party" I think that is a mixture of enjoy, and join
6. Scarlett was drwing pictures one day, and my dad said, "scrlett, will you draw me a picture?" Scarlett said, "how much will you give me?" (what?!?) Mt dad said, "I have a dollar." Then my brother said, "I have 2 dollars." Scarlett looks at my brother, and said, "where is your money?" My brother said, "It is in the car" She looks at my dad who had taken another dollar out of his wallet, then she looks back at my brother and says, "sorry, he has his money in the house, so I will draw a picture for him." Already hustling!

Lavender Springs

A few weekends ago we took the kids to lavender springs ranch. We try to do this at least once a year. The kids loved it this year. They picked green beans (even though we have more that we can eat in our garden), raspberries, and okra. Owen ate so many raspberries, I thought he was going to be sick. He was eating them faster than I could pick them! Here are some pictures of our fun day!

Drill sergeants...

Parenting is not easy. I am already realizing it, and my kids are still babies.(sort of) My goal as a parent is to be as prepared as I can be as my kids get older. I never want to think I am as good of a parent as I will ever be. I know that a great parent is one that can be open to change. If what I am doing does not seem to be working, I want to be willing to change. My kids deserve for me to keep working on myself and taking my job as a mom serious. y kids are the greatest gift I have ever received, and I want them to know that I think they are amazing.

I am staring my psychology classes, and for the most part I love them. I have 2 online classes, and one in class. The class I have in the classroom, is child psychology. Their are an interesting bunch of people in that class. One lady is about to drive me insane, and it is only week number two. I will refer to her as the "drill sergeant". The drill sergeant has something to say about everything. She can not be swayed, it is her way or no way. Her children are in high school, and she is a genius when it comes to parenting. She says that your house should be the way you want it, and your kids will need to learn to not touch anything you don't want them to touch. You can have breakables on their level, and if you are a good enough parent, your kids will learn not to touch the breakable things. Drill sergeant says you can never reason with a two year old, they are completely irrational and are not intelligent enough to be reasoned with.

I am required to respond in class as part of my grade, but I find myself just sitting there screaming in my head. She is clearly a parent who thinks she knows it all, and there is no swaying her, so I think "why respond"? So I will respond here on my blog where I can speak freely.

1. Who wants to live in a house where kids can not touch things? I agree they should not touch things like the stove and toilet water, but I like that my kids can play in my house. It is their house too, and I want them to always feel comfort in our home. I have taught my kids to not touch things when we go to other houses that are not kid friendly, but they are free to touch most things in my house.
2. As far as not being able to reason with a two year old, she is crazy! Two years is when you SHOULD start reasoning with them. You don't have to spank a child every chance you get to get them to obey you. I reason with my kids daily. It is SOOOO easy to tell Scarlett or Owen to do something and if they do not there will be a consequence. It works like magic. You just tell your child to do something and that is it. Watch them to see if they do what you say. You say it once, and if they do not do what you say you take something away. Trust me, the more drastic the consequence, the less you will have to work at it. It does take a TON of consistency for a little while, but they will get it, and when they do things get really easy. IT IS CALLED REASONING!

This lady and her "drill sergeant" attitude, "if you don't do what I say, I will force you to do it", does nothing for a child but make them afraid of you. Why do parents want their children to be afraid of them? I think if less parents were drill sergeants, maybe their kids would feel like they could talk to them more. I would be terrified to talk to my mom if she was like the drill sergeant. For example, when a teen girl works up enough courage to tell her parents she is pregnant, why do parents yell and tell girls that they are stupid. Some parents kick their pregnant daughters out of the house! What good does yelling and name calling do at that point? That girl needs to be loved and felt like she is not alone, because the fear she holds inside her is all the punishment she needs. These "drill sergeant" parents are to blame for a lot of lost teens.
Then there are parents who say, "well my child has no respect, they could care less about me". Well no duh! they are teenagers, of course they do not respect you. Why do grown adults get thier feelings hurt, and take things personal. Don't all kids hate their parents at one time in their lives? I can tell you this, I will not be shocked when my kids let the "I hate you" slip. I will know that they are saying it in anger, and I would never let it ruin my relationship with them. I think a lot of parents need to pull up thier big kid pants, and deal with things. Listening, support and unconditional love go a long way with kids.

I don't know If I have ten quotes this week...

1. While Owen was peeing: "Mom this is my big wiener!" Why are boys so obsessed at such a young age?
2. Scarlett: "Owen is driving me CHAOS!"
3. Scarlett: "Mom, I wish that you and dad never had to work and could stay home with us all the time!" Don't we all wish that...
4. Mike was sitting on the couch when Scarlett came out of nowhere and punched him in the stomach, and said in a devious little voice, "Bet you didn't see that coming, did you?"
5. Scarlett: "Mom, you know that place called Kenya? Do you think the lions and Giraffes that live there can walk over to our house and sneak into our house and eat us?" What, who told her that?!
6. We were listening to a song and Scarlett asked me what it meant to be a goner, and I told her that it means that someone is gone forever. She said, "Well are you sad that your paw paw is a goner?" It was sad but funny in a way too.
7. Mike and Scarlett and Owen found a bottle in Owens closet, in a backpack, from a long time ago. I guess it was a juice bottle? Scarlett said it smelled like, "Buffalo and bear poop all mixed together." Owen said it "tinked" (he only uses S's when he feels like it.

I did not think I could get to ten, but I got close.

Good tunes

This song by Addison Road is amazing. I am loving this message right now.
There’s a better version of me
That I can’t quite see
But things are gonna change
Right now I’m a total mess and
Right now I’m completely incomplete
But things are gonna change
Cause you’re not through with me yet

This is redemption’s story
With every step that I'm taking
Every day, you’re chipping away
What I don’t need
This is me under construction
This is my pride being broken
And every day I’m closer to who I’m meant to be
I'm a change in the making

Wish I could live more patiently
Wish I could give a little more of me
Without stopping to think twice
Wish I had faith like a little child
Wish I could walk a single mile
Without tripping on my own feet
But you’re not through with me yet

And this is redemption’s story
With every step that I'm taking
And every day, you’re chipping away
What I don’t need
This is me under construction
This is my pride being broken
Every day I’m closer to who I’m meant to be

From the dawn of history
You make new and you redeem
From a broken world to a broken heart
You finish what you start in everything
Like a river rolls into the sea
We’re not who we’re going to be
But things are going to change

I'm living redemption’s story
With every step that I'm taking
And every day, you’re chipping away
What I don’t need
And this is me under construction
This is my pride being broken
And every day I’m closer to who I’m meant to be
I'm a change in the making

I'm not who I'm gonna be
Moving closer to your glory

Top ten quotes of the week...

1. "Owen is just a pesty pest pest!"
2. While watching a guy on tv get hit in the balls, Owen yelled, "AHHH right in the tenders!"
3. Scrletts response to the above comment, "don't worry mom, he got that from Kung Fu Panda." Yes, that makes it much better.
4. During a church thing the other night, Mike played the guitar and after every song, Owen yelled, "Good job Dad"
5. "Mom, I love Justin Beaver, and I don't care if he is already married, I am going to marry him" She is just a little confused on how things work. We ARE going to teach her that being a home wrecker is not a wise path in life.
6. Scarlett asks me and my sister in law why I did not marry my brother. We tried to explain to her that brothers and sisters do not marry each other. Her response, "Well I might marry Owen one day because I love him." our response, "no, you will not want to marry Owen." In her most devious voice she says, "we will just see about that." She is still trying to figure out different kinds of love.
7. At church they showed a clip of the lion the witch and the wardrobe. Owen was sitting in my lap with a cup of ice water. In one scene edmond steps over a sleeping wolf, and the wolf growls and jumps up. Owen has seen this movie many times, but for some reason it scared him and he jumped and the ice cold water flew out of the cup and landed all over my head. Everyone around me thought it was hilarious!
8. After a worship service I listened to both kids sing revelations song word for word, "Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come, yeah
With all creation I sing:
Praise to the King of Kings!
You are my everything,
And – I - will - adore You!
Yeah!" One of the great moments as a parent.
9. me: "Owen, sing me a song" Owen:"Mom, I can't, I am only 2"
10. Scarlett: "going to the pool makes me so dang happy!"

The Haps...

The last 2 weeks have been a little on the crazy side. Last week we FINALLY got taxes done! The last time we will ever have to do taxes for River's Edge. Yippee!! WE sold our trailblazer and bought a cute little red car that Owen calls Mcqueen. He wants us to put lucky "tickers" (stickers) on the side of it.

In other big news, I have switched my degree plan once again. I have working on a degree in business. I have never wanted a business degree, but I thought I needed it because it could get me pretty much any job I wanted in the business field. I have always wanted to get a degree in psychology, but decided not to pursue it because in order to make any money doing it I would have to go to school for 8 years. A few weeks ago I got a call from the manager of State Farm in Southern New Mexico and he said that it did not matter what degree I got. I could do my job with any degree. So I now get to change my degree plan to what I have always wanted it to be. This semester I am taking Human growth and development, child psychology, and adolescent psychology. I am so excited I can't stand it.

Last but not least, I went to the doc and had my IUD removed. I have had acne like a highschool kid who does not wash her face. It has been awful. I do reccomend IUD's and I have to say that was the only downfall for me. I have to have a birth control that is projesterone only, due to the breast cancer risk in my family. It has been great for the past 3 years, but now I am ready for different possicilities.

top ten sayings of the week...

1. "Mom can you please stop interpeating me?!" ummmm, Do you want me to stop interrupting or repeating you?
2. "Mom is it like a dance party in every room night or what?"
3. "My name is not Owen, its bailey" oh! excuse me!
4. "Come on dad, we don't have to listen to mom." obviously my favorite one!
5. "Mom, you be sally and I will be mcqueen, and we can fight like crazy."
6. "Mommo is a nice lady, I am glad God invented her"
7. "if you don't stop punishing me I am going to live in another country like texas."
8. "can I have a baba (a sippy cup)?" "no", "then can you go get dad?"
9. While reading about a groundhog named Grady, I pointed to him and said, "Owen what is this animal?" owen said, "uh a flamingo?"....well, At least my son has good looks.
10. "Owen get off the table or I will spank you!" "Wait! not so fast mom!"

garden update.

Scarlett's bestie

My friend has a little girl that is 2 weeks older than scarlett and a son that is 1 1/2 months younger than owen. She also has a 6 year old boy and a new baby girl. We always have a great time together. Our kids LOVe to be around eachother. Scarlett names everything naomi and naomi names everything scarlett. They are so funny together. they have similar personalities, so there is LOTS of drama. I am so glad Scarlett has a friend like naomi. here are some pictures of them. oh and they dressed up ben like a girl, and he was laid back enough to let them.

we went camping...

and this was the only picture I got! It was not a horrible experience for me. it did rain, and made everything damp. that part sucked, but for the most part it was fun. the kids thought it was the best. Mike was freezing all night long, and did not realize that there was an extra blanket folded up nicely by his feet.

Owen's new room

After 1 year of being in our house, I am finally painting! We will be doing Scarletts room next. I am LOVING not being in school, because I have a ton of time to do decorating. I made the banner and the robots. I love being crafty, and I only spent $50 dollars on his room. One room down, and four more to go. I don't want to go back to school!!!!!!!

Scarlett the rockstar

She loves her karaoke machine. and not to brag, but she is GOOD. I take that back I am going to brag, she is really good!

Number 200!

this is my 200th post. sorry blog, it has been a while since my last post. I think my 200th post will be about my kids, since that is why I started this thing.

Scarlett, my amazing four year old, will be turning 5 soon. I really don't think 5 is going to be easy for me. Sometimes I get sad just thinking about it. She is more amazing every day. I still am in awe at some of the things she says. Last week was VBS at our church and she made a "rainstick". Last night I went into her room and noticed rice was all over the floor. I said, "Scarlett! why is there rice all over your floor?!" she said, "Mom, it is from my rainstick, it rained rice."

Owen, who is STILL not potty trained, is equally amazing. If he does not want to do something he says, "I can't do that I am a baby." He also says things like, "this years day", instead of "today". It would be so much easier to say "today".

They both watch me drive away every morning, and yell at me down the street that they love me and have a good day. I think this is a remund thing. and you remunds know what I mean. I think that is a great thing to do. I don't know if our neighbors like it, but I don't care.

my sweets

They really do love eachother! they are both at such a fun age.

The funeral

So last Thursday we flew to Texas to my paw paws funeral. I knew that this was going to to be a hard trip, but I knew it was one that had to happen. A year ago my paw paw told Mike and I that we could have his house and farm if we wanted it. This was a house I grew up at and SOOO many of the great memories I have from my childhood stems from that house. We have talked about it and thought about it, and have never made a concrete decision. It is a smaller town than the one we live in, the people there are very country (not a bad thing, but might not be a good thing either), small churches, FARMING! Farming sounds AMAZING, but it is such hard work. It is humid and there are bugs everywhere. Owen got his first fire ant bites, and we are still scratching mosquito bites. Plus my dad was holding Scarlett and a 4 foot snake slithered by. Oddly, these are all things I can get used to. A life on a farm would be a great experience for our kids. We could homeschool, they would grow up around the hardest working people in the world, good, wholesome people. They would grow up being respectful humans. I just don't know if it is the life for us. It would be a COMPLETELY different lifestyle!
When we got to his house, it was so overgrown with vegetation, it scared me! It was not what I had remembered from a few years ago. His house was empty, his gardens were not recognizable, it needed more work than I think we could do. SAD! We went into the house, and I broke down. My dad and I cried. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. We decided to come back after the funeral the next day so I could get what I wanted out of the house.
The day of the funeral was hotter than hell. It was the kind of heat and humidity that made your clothes cling to your sticky skin. The service was amazing. There was a 16 minute sideshow of his life. I cried through the whole thing. One of my paw paws old friends got up and told stories about him, and we all laughed and cried. At the end of his talk he said two things that I will remember forever. He looked at all of my family and said, "James would have wanted nothing more than to see you all walk with God, and if you are not, please turn your lives around." I felt like it was my paw paw talking to us. The second thing he said was that there was a saying that he always remembered my paw paw saying, and it was one of the best sayings ever. He said,"It's a mighty fine world we live in, and it's really hard to beat, you get a thorn with every rose, but aint the roses sweet." I sat there thinking that I remember him saying this a lot. The last part of the service a man from the VFW stood up and presented a flag to my uncle, and saluted my paw paw's box of ashes. It was an amazing end. It made me sob uncontrollably, but I think I needed to.
After the service we went back to his house and I walked around his property and took tons of pictures. I went inside and took more pictures, and gathered some stuff that I wanted. There was a box in one of the rooms, with a bunch of stuff I had sent him in the nursing home. I was looking through it and found a copy of the letter he had written me when I was born. I read it, even though I know it word for word. He ended his letter with, "it's a mighty fine world we live in, and it's really hard to beat, you get a thorn with every rose, but aint the roses sweet." He had said it to me a million times, because that is how many times I had read that letter!
We took his ashes and my maw maws ashes and mixed them together. We took them out to the garden and buried half of them in the garden. It was the only time no one cried. It is what they would have wanted and I think it made us all happy that we could do that for them. It was a wonderful and sad day, all at the same time. I feel like I got incredible closure from going. What great people my maw maw and paw paw were. They will be missed.